GRB Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Hey Guys, I recently purchased a set of KSP-400's from a forum member. These speakers are used as my fronts (and subs, with built in side-firing 15" woofers) in my HT. I think I understand the concept of bi (or maybe even tri) amping speakers. However my wallet will not take the stress of multiple amps. When I got the speakers, the previous owner ran a single speaker cable to the Hi-In post on the speakers with apparently home-made speaker wire jumpers across the mid and low inputs and then ran a sub cable directly from the sub-out on the amp to the sub-in on the speakers. I have the speakers wired as he had them. My question (sorry for taking so long to get to the question) is; after e-mailing a local hi-end stereo shop, and a cable manufacturer, it was recommended that I tri-wire the speakers. This was to be accomplished by running three separate speaker cables from the same speaker outputs on the amp to each of the input posts on the speakers (minus the sub input). If this is done, am I not decreasing the ohm load from 8 down to 2? Or is there some compensation made internally through a crossover to prevent this or what? Help, I am confused. I know T2K or someone else on the forum will know the answer to this (probably lame) question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Did you get an owners manual with the speakers? Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yromj Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 ---------------- On 2/11/2004 6:30:48 PM GRB wrote: This was to be accomplished by running three separate speaker cables from the same speaker outputs on the amp to each of the input posts on the speakers (minus the sub input). If this is done, am I not decreasing the ohm load from 8 down to 2? Or is there some compensation made internally through a crossover to prevent this or what? ---------------- The only thing that would be affected by doing this is the impedance in the speaker wire to the speaker. The other possibility would be active or passive tri-amping. (Active is where you would put active cross-overs IN FRONT of the amps, so that the amps are only amplifying specific frequency ranges and connect an amp channel to each driver. Passive being connecting an amp channel to the passive cross-over in front of each driver.) Therefore, you would need six amp channels for this pair of speakers. Personally, I would leave things like you've got it unless you want to spend the time/money/effort to actively tri-amp the speakers. That will get very hairy very quickly. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRB Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 Keith, No, I did not get an owner's manual. After looking at the speaker connections again and reading the reply from John, my real question is will I get any increase in sound quality by running separate cables to the speaker inputs rather than just using jumpers from hi-mid-low posts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRB Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 One more thing guys, the e-mail I received from the cable manufacturer spoke of using piggyback banana plugs on the amp to run the separate cables to the speakers. Ever heard of this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yromj Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 ---------------- On 2/12/2004 6:37:31 PM GRB wrote: One more thing guys, the e-mail I received from the cable manufacturer spoke of using piggyback banana plugs on the amp to run the separate cables to the speakers. Ever heard of this? ---------------- Yea, many brands of banana plugs will allow piggy-backing. This simply means that you can plug one banana plug into the back of another. The wire is inserted into the banana plug from the side. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 ---------------- On 2/12/2004 6:31:06 PM GRB wrote: Keith, No, I did not get an owner's manual. After looking at the speaker connections again and reading the reply from John, my real question is will I get any increase in sound quality by running separate cables to the speaker inputs rather than just using jumpers from hi-mid-low posts? ---------------- I would tell you that I would copy and mail the manual to you buy I don't know when I'll have the time. If you remind me from time to time I'll try to mail you a copy. It would be worth having. As far as the tri-wiring goes, I'm not sure the results would be worth the trouble. I have my 300's single wired, it is recommended to use speaker wire for jumpers in place of the supplied golds straps. You could use 3 runs of wire and bind all the ends together at the amp end, with each wire to the low/mid/hi posts on the speakers. Might be worth trying. I personally use Phoenix Gold stackable banana plugs. They are worth the cost. Try searching www.partsexpress.com for part number 263-583 . Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doudou Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 in fact your speakers is a kind of RP3 or RP5 speakers. you should check the manual of theses speakers to see what you could do with... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRB Posted February 13, 2004 Author Share Posted February 13, 2004 Thanks for the input guys. Keith, I went looking and found the owner's manual on the net. It is somewhat poorly written however. It recommends that you contact your stereo dealer to discuss bi or tri wiring. Great help. I did get some better direction speaking to Frank @ Signal Cable. Great guy with lots of info. I think I found the solution to my issue. His company makes a tri-wire speaker wire set for about $250 for a pair of 10' runs. There were some previous posts extolling the virtues of Signal Cable so I went to the web site. Their stuff looks like quality and the reviews are outstanding. I think I'll give them a try. Thanks for the help guys. I will post a review of my own on the forum once I get them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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